Station Design | St Pancras International St Pancras Station is a combination of ingenious design and stylistic accomplishment. Find out about the challenges which faced engineers Barlow and Ordish in designing the building, and the background of architect George Gilbert Scott. The choice of site Before the 1860s the Midland Railway Company (MRC) had no direct line into London, routing its traffic via the London and North Western railway to Euston, and from 1858 via a route into Kings Cross station, operated by another rival, the Great Northern Railway. This latter arrangement allowed the MRC to build a goods depot on land north of the Regents Canal. Following disputes in 1862 the Midland Railway put to Parliament a bill for a route from its line at Bedford via Luton, St Albans and Hendon into St Pancras. Image: Kellys Post Office Directory Map 1857 © Motco Enterprises Limited, The site chosen by the MRC for its London terminus was unusually complicated.

It was constrained on three sides; to the south by Euston Road which demarcated the southern most line at which new rail termini could be built (Metropolitan Railway Commissioners 1846) but which also had the Metropolitan Railway running beneath it; by the Regents Canal to the north; and by the River Fleet to the east. Furthermore the north approach to the site was occupied by a gas works and a burial ground. Image: Stanfords Map of London 1862 © Motco Enterprises Limited, To make way for the lines and Station large parts of the existing neighbourhoods of Somerstown and Agar Town were demolished. Agar Town, a small estate developed from 1840 to the north and east of Pancras Old Church had a reputation perpetuated by contemporary writers as being a squalid slum housing many poor, drunken Irish. Recent research, studying deeds, Vestry minutes, census and poor law records, suggests this has been exaggerated. However, falsely portrayed as a foul slum housing a depraved population Agar Town fell easy prey to the MRC, who without difficulty obtained Parliamentary powers and in 1868 demolished the area, leaving the inhabitants to find other accommodation wherever they could.

Somerstown was known as an area where refugees settled and during the late 18th and early 19th centuries housed a large population of French Catholics who came there as refugees from the French Revolution. St Pancras churchyard had been the primary burial ground for the whole of north London and by the 1840s was seriously overcrowded which led to dramatic expediencies in the use of available space. This included the group burial of paupers in mass graves and the multiple use of coffins. The burial grounds were closed in 1855 and all subsequent interments took place in the St Pancras Burial Board’s new parish cemetery at East Finchley, the first to be established under the Metropolitan Burials Act of 1852. In order to construct the railway lines and station parts of the burial ground had to be cleared. Author and poet, Thomas Hardy, while a pupil architect, was delegated to ensure the exhumations were carried out with respect and later wrote, possibly about his experience, the poem The Levelled Churchyard 1881.

Image: Hardy’s Tree, Old St Pancras churchyard © HS1 Ltd O Passenger, pray list and catch Our sighs and piteous groans Half stifled in this jumbled patch Of wrenched memorial stones! Are mixed to human jam, And each to each exclaims in fear. ‘I know not which I am!’ etc.. The raised platform design Running the line under the Regents Canal from ground level at Euston Road would have required a challenging gradient for a four mile stretch northwards out of the station and unsuitable levels for stations at Camden Road, Kentish Town and Haverstock Hill. Therefore the decision was taken to raise the platforms on a deck, some 12 feet to 17 feet higher than the adjoining roads. As well as building a London Terminus the Midland Railway Company proposed to connect into the Metropolitan railway to gain access to markets south of London. This was called the St Pancras Branch and required a tunnel under the Regents Canal and the station itself. A consequence of the elevated platform was the availability of a large space at ground level extending over the whole area beneath the station.

The original intention was to fill this with material excavated from the tunnel but as the station was bounded by roads the space was deemed so valuable that it was devoted entirely to commercial purposes. This being the storage of Burton Beer, much admired in London for its lightness and taste and supplied in the main by Bass Brewery and Thomas Salt. Instead of building up an enormous embankment to support the platforms and roof an alternative structure was constructed, comprising columns and girders, with the distances between the columns the same as those of the beer warehouses.. This was serviced by a hydraulic lift at the north end of the train shed (now midway along platform 7-8). Barlow famously wrote that “…the length of a beer barrel became the unit of measure, upon which all the arrangements of this floor were based”. Image: Hydraulic lift for the transfer of beer to the undercroft The storage and distribution of ale under the station platforms continued right up until 1964 with the arrival of the last steam train from the Bass Brewery; the demise brought about by the transfer from rail to road distribution.

Image: Beer being stored within the undercroft © HS1 Ltd The height of the platforms however posed problems for traffic accessing the station due to the angle of the slope from the adjoining roads. To minimise this impact Barlow brought the lines into the station at a gradient of 1:217 at the canal bridge and 1:440 along the platforms. The result of this is that the buffer stops were 3ft 3ins lower than they would have been if the tracks had been brought in level from the canal bridge. While it assisted passengers arriving by cab it was not helpful to train drivers who didn't apply the brakes soon enough and hit the buffers, 4 such incidents being recorded. The Combined Hotel and Station model The configuration of the station and the hotel reflects the thinking of the day, in particular the arrangement of entrances, booking offices and hotel. The placement of the hotel transversely across the head of the station was first established at Paddington by Brunel and its implementation at St Pancras met the business objectives of MRC to have a hotel integral to the station. As a result of the elevated podium the station hotel towers over Euston Road, enhancing its vertical proportions which underpin its architectural character.

George Gilbert Scott The competition to design the hotel was won by George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878) the leading gothic architect of the time. Before working on St Pancras Station Scott had built and restored a large number of Churches and several Cathedrals, although he started his career as a leading designer of workhouses. His designs were based on a careful study of English Medieval Gothic architecture, and he was inspired by and worked with leading figures such as Augustus Pugin and John Ruskin. Another notable building by Scott is the Albert Memorial, completed in 1872. Image: Portrait of Sir George Gilbert Scott © By Photograph [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons At St Pancras Scott infused gothic architectural influences from all over Europe to create a design which would suit the site’s particular constraints and opportunities. He took a particular interest in the detailing of the building, specifying the use of Gripper’s patent bricks from Nottingham, and hand drawing the designs for the column capitals himself. The Booking hall, was a particularly grand feature of the Station, originally designed with a great braced roof lantern and linenfold panelling, though the roof was replaced with simpler structure following damage during both World War I and II.

The panelling has survived and can still be seen in what is now the Booking Office Bar. Image: The St Pancras Station Booking Office in 1900, showing the original roof © National Railway Museum/Science & Society Picture Library William Henry Barlow and Rowland Mason Ordish William Henry Barlow (1812-1902) left school at 16 and commenced his engineering studies, first with his father and then as an engineering pupil at both Woolwich and London Docks. He sent time working in Turkey returning to England in 1838 where he joined the railways. From 1842 he was appointed Resident Engineer with the Midland Railway progressing to Consulting Engineer in 1857. Image: Portrait of William Barlow © By Photograph [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons He was held in high esteem and was appointed to a Special Court of Enquiry investigating the failure of the Old Tay Bridge in December 1879. Following this he advised on the reconstruction of the Tay Bridge and recommended the construction of a new independent structure adjacent to the old.

In addition to his railway and bridge work, Barlow was consulted on a range of cases, including subsidence at Ely CathedralRowland Mason Ordish (1824-1886) was born in Melbourne, Derbyshire. He was the son of a land agent and surveyor and as a youth he worked in both engineering and architectural offices having great skill as a draughtsman with a creative approach to problem solving. Ordish worked on and designed a number of significant buildings: Joseph Paxtons Hall for the Great Exhibition in 1851; Wastons Hotel in Mumbai (1867-69); Amsterdam Station (1863) with W.H LeFeuvre; Derby Market Hall (1866); Winter Garden, Leeds Infirmary with George Gilbert Scott (1868); Albert Bridge, London (1872). He is described thus: Mr Ordish, was, as it were, born to his profession.

With a marvellous feeling for strength and proportion in the materials he handled, he was a man of fertile resource, hardly ever repeating himself, and able to solve difficult engineering problems where no one else could see a way of doing so (Obituary The Engineer 17 September 1886). With regard to St Pancras there can be no doubt that Ordish played a very important part of its design as indicated by Barlow in his paper to the Institute of Civil Engineers in 1870: For the details of the roof I am indebted to Mr Ordish, who practical knowledge and excellent suggestions enabled me, while adhering to the form, depth and general design, to effect many improvements in its construction. References Denford, Steven. 1995. Agar Town: The Life & Death of a Victorian ‘slum.’ Occasional Paper of the Camden History Society. Emery, Philip & Wooldridge K. 2011. St Pancras Burial Ground. Excavations for St Pancras International, the London terminus of High Speed 1, 2002-3. Gifford / Museum of London Archaeology St. Pancras Station, London St.

Pancras Station - stpancras.com Thanks in part to its exuberant neo Gothic architecture, St. Pancras is hands down the most famous of the numerous railway stations in London. During the 1980s the future of the railway station was in doubt but it was eventually renovated and transformed into a modern international station. Midland Railway Hotel Situated in central London, St. Pancras Station was initially designed in 1863 by William Barlow for the Midland Railway. Upon its completion two years later, St. Pancras Station's train shed stood as the largest enclosed space in the world. Midland Railway Hotel But Midland Railway had set out to impress the people of London even more. While Barlow built the train shed, London officials held a competition to choose an architect for the actual design of the station and accompanying hotel. They selected George Gilbert Scott's brick Gothic revival design but a lack of funds caused them to do a little trimming of his original plans. While the station was completed in 1868, the accompanying Midland Grand Hotel wasn't finished until 1873. The hotel opened the following year.

The Clock Tower The impressive building is designed in an extravagant Victorian-Gothic style. It is especially eye-catching thanks to its spired gothic towers and the red colored brick used throughout. Unfortunately, however, the hotel was forced to close in 1935 and the train shed suffered much damage during World War II. Many bids to close the station were made, basically because it had become underused, but concerned British citizens fought to keep it open and the station soon appeared on the government's protected Grade 1 list. For a few decades after the war, the hotel served as offices for British Railways, the station's new owner. During the 1980s however the building became vacant and started to decay. It wasn't until the years 2000 when a renovation started that would transform the grand building once again into a modern luxury hotel. The Train Station St Pancras Station The railway station proper is a great example of Victorian architecture and magnificently combines the iron and stone framework with the brick walls. The train shed - known as as the Barlow Shed - was created by Barlow with the help of engineer Rowland Mason Ordish, and is considered as one of the great engineering achievements of Victorian architecture.

The shed has a length of 210 meters (689 ft). Its 74 meter (243 foot) wide arch measures 30 meters (100 feet) high at its peak. St Pancras International Eurostar In November 2007, after a long renovation, St. Pancras Station became "international" with the arrival of the Eurostar on its tracks. The platforms had to be lengthened to accommodate the modern trains, which previously arrived at Waterloo Station. Today high speed Eurostar trains connect London from St. Pancras Station with Paris , Lille , Brussels and some smaller destinations. Also part of the renovation was the opening of the platforms to the lower level, where a modern shopping arcade was created. History of St Pancras railway station, Midland Grand Hotel, St Pancras Chambers, Euston Road, England, London UK « Photo thumbs The Midland Grand Hotel St Pancras In 1863, the Midland railway secured an Act of Parliament in 1863 to build a new terminus, adjacent to the Great Northern Railway's Kings Cross station (opened 1852).

The new station was designed by Engineer-in-Chief to the Midland Railway, W.H. Barlow (1812-1902) was had previously helped Paxton with his design for the famous Great Exhibition building. Barlow's design was was an engineering marvel of the time, with his immense trainshed boasting the world's largest enclosed space. "Its 243-foot span was not an exceptional dimension for bridges, as we know, but for an interior it was extraordinary, especially extended in depth to form the widest and largest undivided space ever enclosed. The skeletal transparency of the ferro-vitreous vault added a futuristic, magic dimension to the stunning space, especially as the vault was made to spring from the platform level where the passenger stood." Architecture: from Prehistory to Post-Modernism, Marvin and Hyman The first train pulled into the station on October 1st, 1868. Midland Grand, shortly after opening In May 1865, (while the station was still being constructed), the Midland Railway Company launched a competition for the design of a 150 bed hotel, with eleven architects asked to submit their entries.

One of the architects, Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878), got completely carried away and submitted a grand plan bigger and far more expensive that the original specification. But his bare-faced audacity paid off and he was awarded the contract - although the Directors of the Midland Railway immediately demanded some hefty cost cutting measures which included knocking off two floors of office accommodation and one floor level from the hotel. Open for business The usual financial problems beset construction, causing delays in building the hotel with the eastern wing of the building not opening until 5 May 1873, with the rest following in Spring 1876. But what a hotel it was! Altogether, the hotel fabric had cost £304,335, decoration and fittings £49,000 furnishings £84,000, adding up to a not-inconsiderable £437,335. The completed building had used 60 million bricks and 9,000 tons of ironwork including polished columns of fourteen different British granites and limestones. St Pancras station, shortly after opening.

The Midland Grand soon acquired an excellent reputation as an upmarket, 300-room hotel, charging 14 shillings (70p) a night in 1879 - only six pence (2.5p) more than the luxurious and famed Langham in Portland Place, W1. Inside, the fixtures and fittings throughout the hotel were to a very high standard with Gillow (now Waring and Gillow) being closely involved in providing furniture and furnishings. The building included many innovative features including hydraulic 'ascending chambers', concrete floors, revolving doors and a fireproof floor construction. The Victorian decor was rich, lavish and expensive, with suites of rooms decorated with gold-leafed walls and a blazing fire in every room. But the hotel was built before the time of en suite bathrooms, requiring an army of servants to scuttle around the 300 rooms, laden with tubs, bowls, spittoons and chamber pots. The hotel managed to prosper until after the first world war, but even the Moroccan coffee house and in-house orchestra couldn't protect the hotel from the country-wide decline in the hotel trade.

Into decline The Midland Grand was taken over by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1922, before closing in 1935 - its facilities were outdated and it had become too expensive to run and refurbish. Now renamed St Pancras Chambers, the premises settled down to a somewhat less glamourous existence as railway office. The building survived the bombing raids of the Second World War but found itself threatened with complete demolition in the 1960s. Thankfully, this incredible building was saved from being swept away, and was awarded Grade 1 listed status in recognition of its importance as an example of high Victorian Gothic architecture. In the 1980s, the building failed its fire certificate and was closed down, remaining empty for many years. Central Tower, Midland Grand, June 2003 Restoration and the future In the mid nineties, the exterior of the building was restored to its original condition and made structurally sound and weatherproof, at a cost of around £10 million (paid for by British Rail and English Heritage).

Although the interior of the building had suffered badly at the hands of corporate vandalism, much of the original decoration, including stencilling, mosaics and ornamental ceilings, survived and has since been carefully restored. St Pancras Chambers also proved to be a popular film, photographic and exhibition location, featuring in 'Gullivers Travels' and providing the backdrop for the err, Spice Girls video. Renaissance After several years of intensive redevelopment and refurbishment work, the station is on course to relive former glories, with the rebranded 'St Pancras International' replacing Waterloo as the terminus for Eurostar services. Expected to handle over 45 million travellers annually via a new high-speed rail link across southern England, the station is now being rebilled as a "grand retail and hospitality destination" featuring Europe's longest champagne bar. St Pancras Chambers have also enjoyed extensive restoration work, with London & Continental Railways working with Manhattan Loft Corporation to turn the once-derelict hotel into a 5 star Renaissance Marriott hotel with 244 bedrooms, 2 restaurants, 2 bars, a health and leisure centre, a ballroom, 20 meeting and function rooms, and 67 private apartments and penthouses.

[Nov 2007] King's Cross and St Pancras, London - visitlondon.com King's Cross and St Pancras, London Map view King’s Cross is one of London’s most newly regenerated areas. With 50 new buildings, 20 new streets and 10 new public squares, it is a dynamic and exciting place to be. As indication, Google's UK office is due to move here in 2016, The Guardian newspaper headquarters are already here, and the Eurostar now connects London with mainland Europe. It is also home to several cultural institutions – such as Central St Martins and Kings Place – as well as many bars and restaurants, like The St Pancras Grand . King's Cross was named after a huge monument of King George IV in 1835, which stood where King's Cross station - designed by the architect Lewis Cubitt – now resides. Following the Second World War, this busy industrial district underwent economic decline and, by the 1990s, was in need of regeneration. Travel to King's Cross and St Pancras by Train King's Cross and St Pancras International stations both provide trains in and out of London.

Some of the major UK cities that connect with King's Cross by rail are: Leeds Travel Across London from King's Cross There are also a number of Tube lines and bus routes that stop at King's Cross St Pancras. You can also find taxis waiting outside both stations. If you're going to be in London for more than a day, it's worth buying a Visitor Oyster Card in advance. The Visitor Oyster Card is delivered to your home before you arrive in London. It is one of the easiest ways to get around London . If you do not have a Visitor Oyster Card, but still plan to travel around London for more than a day, buy an Oyster card at the Tube station. Learn more about Oyster Cards . Eurostar: King's Cross and St Pancras International St Pancras International is home to Eurostar, London's high-speed rail link with Paris, Brussels and continental Europe. St Pancras station is also a great place to pick up last-minute gifts, gourmet food, clothes and accessories from stores that include Hamleys, Neuhaus and LK Bennett. Stop off at Europe's longest champagne bar for a well-deserved drink afterwards!

King's Cross station has also recently been restored; prominent new features include the stunning extension of its arched glass roof and an open-air piazza. Culture in King's Cross Relatively cheap rents and a central London location make King's Cross attractive to artists and designers, attractions and cultural establishments: a major arts centre, Kings Place , next to the Regent's Canal hosts numerous art, music, live comedy and cultural events throughout the year both Antony Gormley and Thomas Heatherwick have studios in the area The London Sinfonietta and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment are both based here, alongside the Pangolin Sculpture Gallery; Central St Martins College of Art and Design has taken up residence in the Granary Building, which looks out over Granary Square , a new public space decorated with more than 1,000 coloured fountains the cutting-edge Gagosian Gallery moved its main London premises to King's Cross in 2004 A photo posted by Sam (@benny.photo) on Jan 8, 2017 at 1:54am PST Kings Cross has a heritage of nurturing arts and culture.

The British Library is located next to St Pancras Station, displaying some of the world's most famous written and printed items, such as the Magna Carta (1215) and Shakespeare's First Folio. The London Canal Museum commemorates the importance of London's canals. The fascinating Foundling Museum tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, London's first home for abandoned babies. The area also features a number of theatres, including the Shaw Theatre and the Bloomsbury Theatre . The Camley Street Natural Park is a great way to escape the hustle and bustle of King's Cross: spot wildlife, relax by the pond and learn more at the park's visitor centre. The peaceful St Pancras Old Church is also worth a visit: look out for the Grade I listed mausoleum of Sir John Soane , which inspired the design of London's red telephone boxes. Eat, Drink and Party in King's Cross King's Cross is full of lively bars, some of which are relatively new to the area, such as, the Spanish Camino , Drink Shop Do and VOC .

If you're feeling peckish, there is a great selection of restaurants, including the Caravan cafe, Golden Arrow at Pullman London St Pancras or Bruno Loubet’s Grain Store . Traditional pubs in the area include the Betjeman Arms , The Fellow , and The Driver . For a quick snack at lunch, the Sourced Market in St Pancras International station offers a diverse range of gourmet foods. Alternatively, the exquisite St Pancras Renaissance Hotel – which was originally built by Sir George Gilbert Scott, and saved from demolition by Sir John Betjeman, despite his comment that it was "too beautiful and too romantic to survive" – is the perfect place to treat that special someone: take them for drinks in the Booking Office bar , or for a meal at The Gilbert Scott . You'll also find an all-day restaurant, Plum + Spilt Milk , in the historic Great Northern Hotel, London's first railway hotel. A photo posted by Lottie Whyman (@lottie.whyman) on Jan 7, 2017 at 2:24pm PST King's Cross is a great place to party! The Scala and the Big Chill House are both in close proximity.

Venture a bit further north for Egg , a three-floor club venue with a great outdoor area for lounging. King's Cross is just a short walk from Euston Station – find out more about hotels and attractions near Euston . The King's Cross Partnership was established to fund regeneration projects and the first stage is now open to the public. You can find out more about the current redevelopment at the King's Cross Visitor Centre . King's Cross Attractions Engineering Timelines - St Pancras Station St Pancras Station Euston Road, Kings Cross, London, UK associated engineer date 1866 - 1st October 1868 era Victorian | category Building | reference TQ300829 ICE reference number HEW 237 The train shed at London's St Pancras Station was built as the terminus of the Midland Railway. When it opened in 1868, it was the largest enclosed space in the world. Facing the street, the complex is fronted by the grand Gothic sweep of the former Midland Grand Hotel of 1873, now restored to its former glory.

The train shed was designed by civil and mechanical engineer William Henry Barlow (1812-1902). Barlow's railway career had included positions as resident engineer for several already-existing railway networks, including the Midland Railway, where he later became Engineer-in-chief (until 1857). He then became a consulting engineer. Barlow was responsible for a number of branch lines and extensions on the Midland Railway before tackling the St Pancras terminal. The arched train shed was the largest railway terminus of the period, in all its dimensions, including its span of 73.15m (240ft). The roof is composed of open-work wrought iron ribs, set at just of 9m centres. Each half-arch is a compound curve based on two circular segments and the overall effect acheived is a slightly pointed arch. Barlow was assisted by Roland Mason Ordish (1824-86) in the detail of the roof design. The arches reach some 30.5m above platform level.

Track level at St Pancras is 5.2m higher than Euston Road because the trains approaching the station cross the nearby Regent�s Canal, and had to do so at a height sufficient to allow the boat traffic through. As the tracks had to be raised, an undercroft was created below them, and this was used originally to store beer brought down from Burton-on-Trent. Also below track level, the wrought iron tie girders the restrain the train shed's arched ribs double up as floor beams for the platforms and concourse. They are supported on a grid of 720 cast iron columns rising from street level, which are in turn founded on brick and gritstone piers. The train shed was designed for steam locomotives, and these required water. Seven waterpoints served the station, fed from a 63,000 litre cast iron water tank. In November 2001, one of the masonry waterpoints was moved to make way for the Channel Tunnel trains that now use the station. A Grade II listed structure, the structure was 9m high.

It was cut in three horizontally and the top two slices � weighing a total of 238 tonnes � were moved 700m to the north and installed on a replica of the base, which could not be moved as it's an integral part of the undercroft. In 2003, work began on the redevelopment of St Pancras and the installation of infrastructure to enable the station to serve the international Eurostar service � all part of the High Speed 1 project, formerly known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. In effect, a new station has been constructed next to the original and the train shed extended. The original station floor has been strengthened and the undercroft opened up to form a new concourse. The station entrance is now at ground level. The track deck and station floor have been replaced with reinforced concrete slabs supported on the original cast iron columns. The girders that tie the roof arch have been retained but are now load-free. Some of the piers have been consolidated using grout injections. Slots cut in the deck slabs let 70m long travelators take passengers up and down, and let light into the undercroft. Barlow's shed has been extended to the north by 240m.

The new steel frame structure is supported on 20m columns set on a 30m grid, and is wider than the original shed. It is clad in aluminium louvres and glass. The old and new buildings are linked by a 22.5m glass passage, more than 100m wide. Just to complicate things further, a new Thameslink station has been constructed inside a �box� of 1.2m diameter contiguous bored piles, 400m long and 24m deep, beneath part of the extension. This was done during the main construction period. HM Queen Elizabeth II opened the redeveloped St Pancras Station on 6th November 2007. The Eurostar service began on 14th November 2007. Assistant engineer: Rowland Mason Ordish Architect (Midland Grand Hotel): Sir George Gilbert Scott Iron fabrication and erection: Butterley Company Redevlopment masterplan (2003): Foster + Partners Research: ECPK St. Pancras Station, London [ Victorian Web Home —> Visual Arts —> Architecture —> Railway Stations —> St.

Pancras —> Sir George Gilbert Scott —> Next ] St. Pancras Station and Midland Grand Hotel, London. Architect: Sir George Gilbert Scott. 1868-77. Photograph by Robert Freidus . Formatting, perspective correction and text by George P. Landow . You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one. Victorian Commentary St. Pancras,the terminus of the Midland Railway, is, with the exception of the Gt. Eastern terminus at Liverpool-st, the largest and handsomest railway-station in England. It is built of iron and glass, in a single span. The girders of the roof do not, as in most cases, extend from side to side, supported by abut. ments at either end, like the girders of an ordinary house, but spring straight from the groupd, in pairs from either side of the building, the upper ends curving over, and meeting in the middle.

Each girder is broad at the base, tapering gradually as it bends over to meet its fellow, and the whole station is thus simply a vast roof springing directly from the ground, the brick walls at the side being in fact mere screens of no structural value in the way of support. This peculiar form of girder, giving the arch of the roof a somewhat pointed instead of the usual rounded contour, has a quaintly Gothic effect, which harmonises well with the gorgeous architecture of the huge hotel . . . which forms the Euston-rd façade of the structure. The station entrance for cabs and carriages is on the west side of the station from Euston-rd, whence also on the east side a subway for foot passengers only leads at a sharp incline up to the end platform, connecting the departure with the arrival side. The booking offices are all on the west side, opening direct from the carriageway. NEAREST Ry. Stns., King's + (Met. & G. N.) -- Omnibus Rte., Euston-rd; CabFares, to Bank, 1/6; to Charing +, 1/.

-- Dickens's Dictionary of London 1888, pp. 220-21. Modern Commentary "Matching his ability to think and design on a cathedral scale was Scott's capacity for complex planing in his secular commissions. Althoough his gothic Foreign Office proved abortive, he rivalled its conception with the Midland Grand Hotel (1868-77) for London's St. Pancras Station. Red brick, with terracotta and buff yellow stone, it spectactularly unites thirteenth-century French gothic with the latest iron construction, the asymmetrical elevations sweeping round to the grant entrance at one end, and pivoting brilliantly on the clock tower at the other." -- Brooks, pp. 334-35. References Brooks, Chris. The Gothic Revival. London: Phaidon, 1999. Crook, J. Mordaunt. The Dilemma of Style: Architectural Ideas from the Picturesque to the Post-Modern. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. Dickens, Charles. Dickens's Dictionary of London 1888.

Moretonhampstead, Devon: Old House Books, 2001. [ Information on this reprint of the guide to London written by the novelist's son.] Meeks, Carol L. V. The Victorian Railroad Station: An Architectural History. New Haven: Yale UP, 1956. St Pancras International Station London | Nearby hotels, shops and restaurants | LondonTown.com Images St Pancras International is a triumph of nineteenth century station architecture and one of the wonders of London. You could even argue that it has a claim to being the most attractive railway station in the world. Its architect Sir George Gilbert Scott originally described it as being "too good for its purpose" and with the arrival of the Eurostar high speed link in 2007, it has finally achieved a role that suits its gothic magnificence. The newer elements are just as impressive: a nine-metre high sculpture of lovers meeting beneath the station clock watches diners in an excellent restaurant and a magnificent champagne bar . Best of all there's a great range of independent, upmarket shops, including a huge Foyles bookshop, instead of the overpriced branches of high street chains that provide the only shopping in most British stations.

Eurostar operate all train services through the Channel Tunnel to Continental Europe. There are up to 16 daily departures to Paris with a journey time of 2 hours 15 minutes, and up to 13 to Brussels taking 2 hours. There are various direct seasonal services to the South of France in Summer and to the Alps in Winter, as well as connections to destinations throughout Europe. Don't forget your passport. Trains also run from here to Luton and Gatwick Airports, Brighton and the City of London. ï¿½ St. Pancras Hotel - King's Cross | St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London VIEW RATES VIEW RATES To make reservations by phone, dial freephone 0800 181 737 in the UK, 1 800 252 627 in Ireland, or view our regional telephone reservation numbers . Driving Directions Discover an exceptional stay at our iconic St. Pancras hotel Housed in one of the city's most iconic buildings, the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London provides a five-star backdrop for your stay in King's Cross.

Our historic hotel, originally designed by famed architect George Gilbert Scott, first opened its doors as the Midland Grand in 1873. From our striking Grand Staircase to our awe-inspiring lobby, we surround you with distinctive luxury. Each hotel room and suite offers sensational amenities such as 24-hour room service, designer bedding, robes and slippers and more. Treat yourself to fine dining from acclaimed chef Marcus Wareing at the Gilbert Scott Bar and Restaurant, or enjoy afternoon tea at Hansom Lounge. We also feature a signature spa, a fitness centre and a heated indoor pool. Host your meeting or social gathering with us here in King's Cross to take advantage of our lavishly decorated, versatile event space and our first-rate planning services. Find the essence of five-star luxury at the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London. Learn More Explore Our Hotel History An architectural masterpiece, as designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, and described by many as the most romantic building in London. Learn More Hotel Highlights Relax and unwind in our luxury King's Cross accommodation Showing 1 of 3 Room images may not correspond to the actual room received. Check Room Rates & Availability Room images may not correspond to the actual room received.

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Question: Who designed St Pancras Station?
Answer: (George Gilbert) SCOTT